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Difference : Cloud Computing vs Grid Computing

Want know the difference between Cloud Computing and Grid Computing? and real world examples of Cloud and Grid Computing.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing is the use of a 3rd party service(Web Services) to perform computing needs. Here Cloud depicts Internet . With cloud computing, companies can scale up to massive capacities in an instant without having to invest in new infrastructure. Cloud computing is benefit to small and medium-sized businesses. Basically consumers use what they need on the Internet and pay only for what they use.

Cloud computing incorporates infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) as well as Web 2.0

Cloud computing eliminates the costs and complexity of buying, configuring, and managing the hardware and software needed to build and deploy applications, these applications are delivered as a service over the Internet (the cloud).

Example:

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS) – AWS delivers a set of services that together form a reliable, scalable platform ‘in the cloud’. These pay-as-you-use cloud computing services include Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon SQS, Amazon FPS, and others.
  • Salesforce.com – Delivers businesses over the internet using the software as a service model.
  • Google Apps – Software-as-a-service for business email, information sharing and security

Grid computing

Grid computing is a form of distributed computing whereby resources of many computers in a network is used at the same time, to solve a single problem. Grid systems are designed for collaborative sharing of resources. It can also be thought of as distributed and large-scale cluster computing

Grid computing is making big contributions to scientific research, helping scientists around the world to analyze and store massive amounts of data by sharing computing resources. Here are some real world examples of Grid Computing.

Grids tend to be more loosely coupled, heterogeneous, and geographically dispersed compared to conventional cluster computing systems.

{ 5 comments… add one }
  • Andy June 10, 2009, 5:11 am

    I always enjoy learning what other people think about Amazon Web Services and how they use them. Check out my very own tool CloudBerry Explorer that helps to manage S3 on Windows . It is a freeware. http://cloudberrylab.com/

  • Daisy Stermer March 19, 2010, 8:47 am

    Good Site on Cloud Computing and SaaS – We are periodically looking for good blog articles
    related to Amazon EC2. Also we are looking for contributors to add value to our blog.

    Keep up the great work!

    Thanks

  • Cloud Security Guy March 9, 2011, 1:24 pm

    While both cloud and grid computing share many similarities, there are a number of areas of concern when considering using either. Major issues include: interoperability, hidden costs and threshold policies of service providers.

    At ccskguide.org, we take a look at the security issues around cloud computing and help prepare candidates for the CCSK Cloud Security Certification. For a further discussion on cloud vs. grid computing, and the advantages and disadvantages of each, check our blog post: http://ccskguide.org/2011/02/cloud-computing-vs-grid-computing/

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